Government Transparency

To Stop Corruption, Egypt Needs a Freedom of Information Law

Sahar Aziz | Posted 05.24.2012

Read More: Foia, Arab Spring, Egypt, Egyptian Elections, Freedom of Information Act, Democracy, Government Transparency, Egypt Elections, Egyptian Revolution, World News

For Egypt to achieve sustainable democracy, many reforms remain to be implemented, the most important of which is public access to information that permits meaningful government accountability.

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Secrecy and the Bradley Manning Trial

Jonathan Hafetz | Posted 04.25.2012

Read More: Government Secrecy, Government Transparency, Bradley Manning Court, Bradley Manning, Wikileaks, Bradley Manning Trial, Bradley Manning Case, Crime News

Rather than allaying concerns surrounding excessive government secrecy by opening Manning's criminal proceedings for the world to see, the court is exacerbating them by suggesting there is something to hide.

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Reforming Washington & Restoring Our Faith in Congress

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand | Posted 04.04.2012

Read More: Kirsten Gillibrand, STOCK Act, Transparency, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Congress, Financial Disclosure, Insider Trading, 112th Congress, Government Transparency, Kirsten Gillibrand Stock Act, Politics News

If we are going to restore the trust the American people have in Congress and rebuild their faith in government, increasing transparency and accountability in many aspects of how Washington does business is imperative. The STOCK Act is just a start.

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In The Public Interest : States Make Spending More Transparent, but Some Far Ahead of Others

Phineas Baxandall | Posted 05.20.2012

Read More: Arkansas, Texas, Transparency, State Spending, Transparent Government, Government Spending, Kentucky, Arizona, U.S. PIRG, Government Transparency, Subsidies, State Governments, State Rankings, Politics News

Transparency in government expenditures promotes fiscal responsibility, checks corruption, and bolsters public confidence in government. We need more of it.

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Dr. Transparent and Mayor Rahm: On Open Government in Chicago

Jeff Kelly Lowenstein | Posted 03.06.2012

Read More: Transparency, Chicago Politics, Government Transparency, Rahm Emanuel, Rahm Emanuel Transparency, Video, Chicago News

Emanuel campaigned on a pledge to create "the most open, accountable, and transparent government that the City of Chicago has ever seen." Even his most ardent critics would concede that he has delivered on some part of that.

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Transparency -- The First Step in a Government Revolution

Dag Detter | Posted 12.03.2011

Read More: European Debt Crisis, Greece Debt Crisis, State Commercial Assets, State Assets, Budget Deficit, Economic Growth, US Deficit, Greece Bailout, Government Debt Crisis, Government Transparency, Business News

The current financial crisis is a unique opportunity to challenge the vested interests wanting to preserve the poor performance of the past and keeping these assets away from scrutiny.

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Good Government Through the Looking Glass: Transparency and Accountability

Toni Preckwinkle | Posted 11.30.2011

Read More: Transparency, Government Transparency, Open Data, Cook County, Cook County Board, Chicago News

Last week was the launch of Cook County's new Open Data website. The website makes an unprecedented amount of County information available to the public, all available with just a few clicks of a mouse.

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City Stepping Up Social Media Game With Foursquare Partnership

HuffingtonPost.com | Jen Sabella | Posted 11.16.2011

Read More: Foursquare, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Rahm Emanuel, Kevin Hauswirth, Chicago Mayor Social Media, Rahm Emanuel Foursquare, Best of Chicago, Government Transparency, Naveen Selvadurai, Chicago Around Town, Rahm Emanuel Social Media, Chicago Social Media, Chicago News

If you're still gloating over the fact that you are "mayor" of five Chicago bars on Foursquare, a new partnership announced by real Chicago Mayor Rahm...

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Putting Our Community First

Raja Krishnamoorthi | Posted 10.29.2011

Read More: Congress, Illinois 8th District, Debt Ceiling, Illinois Congressional Races, Government Transparency, Tea Party, Joe Walsh, Republicans, Chicago News

Tea Party Congressman Joe Walsh voted for a government shutdown even though the vast majority of his constituents favored the opposite. If I am elected to Congress, I will put the interests of our community first.

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Quinn Approves FOIA Amendments, Watchdog Group Not Pleased

Posted 10.29.2011

Read More: Pat Quinn, Illinois Freedom of Information Act, Open Government, Illinois Foia Law, Illinois Foia Requests, Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, Governor Quinn, Freedom of Information Act, Government Transparency, Better Government Association, Illinois Transparency, Chicago News

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a law Friday that gives government entities a longer time period to respond to requests for public records, despite...

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Stanford grads' agenda: 1) fix economy, 2) find job

Dakin Sloss | Posted 10.24.2011

Read More: Elections 2012, California, Offthebus, California Economy, Stanford University, Government Transparency, Silicon Valley, College News

Knowledge is power. In the modern era, power has always been monopolized by special interests. So what do they know that we don't? To give power back to Californians, we sought to open government records and, with more data, show how it could work better.

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Good Government Through the Looking Glass: The Budget Process

Toni Preckwinkle | Posted 10.15.2011

Read More: Transparency, Government Transparency, Cook County Budget Shortfall, Chicago Budget Shortfall, Cook County, Preliminary Budget Estimates, Budget, Chicago News

Requiring preliminary budget estimates is the first step in implementing a more transparent and accountable budget process. This allows us to better engage our stakeholders, including County residents, in the budget process.

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Good Government Through the Looking Glass

Toni Preckwinkle | Posted 09.18.2011

Read More: Civic Consulting Alliance, Efficiency, Set Targets Achieve Results, Government Transparency, Budget Cuts, Cook County Board, Chicago News

  I realize that simple band-aid solutions won't fix broad, systemic problems. A key step towards reform in any government requires taking an honest and thorough look at the current budgets and programs.

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Obama White House (Quietly) Pushes Forward on Innovation

HuffingtonPost.com | Alex Wagner | Posted 09.25.2011

Read More: General Services Administration, Gsa, Social Innovation, Energy Innovation, President Barack Obama, President Obama, Design, Obama Administration, Innovation, Government Transparency, Government, Third Industrial Revolution, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Open Government, Green Technology, Ideo, Office of Personnel Management, Video, Business News

Underscoring the raging debate over the size and scope of federal government is a broad national perception that the country's government is bloated, ...

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Cary Kennedy Is a Great Choice for Denver's Chief Financial Officer

Ellen Dumm | Posted 09.13.2011

Read More: Public Finance, City of Denver, Mayor Michael Hancock, Public Investment, Denver-Mayor-Michael-Hancock, Cary Kennedy, Government Transparency, Colorado State Treasurer, Denver News

While the treasurer's position is not particularly high-profile or "sexy," it is critical. During one of the worst American economic meltdowns, Kennedy made smart, solid investments on behalf of taxpayers.

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CHA Head Resigns Following Credit Card Scandal

Posted 08.14.2011

Read More: Chicago Housing Authority, Chicago Politics, Credit Card Scandal, Credit Card Abuse, Rahm Emanuel, Chicago News, Government Transparency, Richard Daley, Lewis Jordan, Chicago News

Last week, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel took away his access to city credit cards, cars and the police officers assigned to drive them. On Tuesday, Chic...

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The Two Tribes of Open Government?

Project On Government Oversight | Posted 07.06.2011

Read More: Beth Noveck, Transparency, Government Transparency, Barack Obama, Open Government, Open Government Initiative, Open Government Directive, Obama Open Government, Obama Transparency, Politics, Politics News

The federal government still has a long way to go. In the mean time, can't the two camps in the open government world peacefully coexist? There's just too much work to be done for us to get bogged down in denigrating each others' agendas.

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Chicago Reporter Sues City Over FOIA Rejections

The Huffington Post | Jen Sabella | Posted 06.13.2011

Read More: Chicago Reader, Foia, Mick Dumke, Mayor Daley, Chicago Media, Freedom of Information Act, Chicago Police Department, Government Transparency, Mick Dumke Lawsuit, Chicago News

For years, the Chicago Reader's Mick Dumke has been reporting on everything from the city's misuse of TIF funds to its lack of recycling. Shedding lig...

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Public Cut Out of Budget Negotiations

The Sunlight Foundation | Posted 06.12.2011

Read More: Harry Reid, Senate, Congress, data.gov, Boehner, Cr, Budget, USAspending.Gov, John Boehner, Obama, Save the Data, Transparency, Government Transparency, Politics News

A very small number of political leaders have ended up with startling control over the country's priorities, and the public has been left piecing together what is happening well after it's been decided.

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Government Transparency 2.0

Craig and Marc Kielburger | Posted 06.06.2011

Read More: Transparency, Social Media, Twitter, Facebook, Canadian Election, Social Media Politics, Government Transparency, World News

Canada is one of the most computer literate countries in the world, with a high level of social media penetration. How will Canadians use these tools during the federal election campaign?

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Mike Huckabee's Secrecy Problem

Mother Jones | Siddhartha Mahanta | Posted 06.04.2011

Read More: Arkansas, Arkansas Governor, Cpac, Mike Huckabee, 2012 Gop Candidates, Mike Beebe, Conservative Political Action Conference, Ouachita Baptist University, Jim-Parsons, Gop, Brenda Turner, Government Transparency, Public Records, GOP Candidates, Politics News

There's a Mike Huckabee mystery that won't go away. Send a public records request seeking documents from his 12-year stint as Arkansas governor, as...

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Government Transparency Showdown Set To Unfold In Congress

AP | LARRY MARGASAK | Posted 05.31.2011

Read More: Transparency, Darrell Issa, Issa Transparency, Barack Obama Transparency, Obama Transparency, Issa Investigation, Government Transparency, Darrell Issa Transparency, Darrell Issa Investigation, Politics News

WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress objected Thursday to the Homeland Security Department's now-rescinded practice of requiring secretive revie...

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In The Public Interest: States Must Make It Easy to Track Spending on Contracts and Subsidies

Phineas Baxandall | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Government Spending Data, Transparency, State Budgets, Money, Budget, Government Spending, Government Transparency, U.S. PIRG, Public Agencies, Politics News

"Red" states and "Blue" states have both embraced spending transparency. The ranks of leading states are split roughly equally between those that voted Democratic and those that voted Republican.

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Efforts To Boost Transparency In States Often Thwarted By Old Patterns Of Secrecy

AP | BETH FOUHY | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Transparency, Government Accountability, Rick Scott, Andrew Cuomo, Government Secrecy, Gary Herbert, Government Openness, Terry Branstad, John Kasich, Government Secrecy Study, Government Openness Study, Government Transparency, Government Transparency Study, Politics News

NEW YORK — More openness in government. Lawmakers across the country, including the Republicans who took control in many states this year, say t...

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Obama and Open Government: Turning Vision Into Reality

Gary D. Bass, Ph.D. | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Transparency, Obama, White House, Accountability, Government Openness, Government Accountability, Government Transparency, Politics News

Obama deserves top grades for the strategy, the initiative, and the commitment to openness. To be truly transformational, he must get agencies to make timely, accurate information available to the public in searchable and downloadable formats.

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